1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an endoscope for optically observing the body cavity of the patient, and particularly to an endoscope for inserting an endotracheal tube which enables an endotracheal tube to be inserted safely, surely, and rapidly into the trachea of a patient whose airway must be urgently opened because of an injury due to an accident or a disaster, a sudden attack of a disease, or the like. Further, the invention relates to an endoscope which is inserted into a living body and used for optically observing the body cavity, and particularly to an endoscope having a distal end structure which can be produced economically and easily.
2. Related art
Conventionally, when an endotracheal tube is to be inserted into the trachea of a patient, the oral cavity 51 of the patient is forcedly opened by using a laryngoscope 52 as shown in FIG. 11, and the endotracheal tube 53 is then inserted while observing an inner portion of the throat. In some cases, however, the portion through which the endotracheal tube 53 is to be inserted cannot be visually checked because the laryngoscope 52 is hard and used only for opening the mouth and illuminating an inner portion of the throat. In the case of the oral intubation, an endotracheal tube is usually inserted while directly observing the glottis in the oral cavity. In a usual posture, however, it is anatomically impossible to directly see the glottis. As shown in FIG. 11, therefore, the head is backwardly tilted, and the root of the tongue is pressed by a blade of the laryngoscope 52 thereby allowing the glottis to be directly observed.
In the case of deformation or a trauma on the face due to an accident or a disaster, microstomia, a tumor or a damage of the lips, or the like, however, it is difficult to open the mouse mouth. In the case of a phyma in the oral cavity or of the throat, teeth abnormality, a trauma on the face, or the like, moreover, it is difficult to insert the blade of the laryngoscope itself. In the case where the patient suffers from brevicollis or is corpulent or the cervical vertebra is inflamed or damaged, it is difficult to backwardly tilt the head. In the case of cleft palate, maxillary and mandibular micrognathism, macroglossia, or maxilla abnormality, it is difficult to exclude the tongue and press the root of the tongue by using the blade of the larygoscope.
In such cases, the endotracheal tube is barely inserted into the trachea. Conventionally, therefore, the blade of the laryngoscope is replaced with another one in accordance with the each case, or in some cases intubation is blindly attempted on the basis of feel only. Therefore, there arises a problem in that the endotracheal tube cannot be safely, surely, and rapidly inserted into the trachea.
As a method which can solve the problem, a method is known in which an insertion unit of an endoscope is passed through the inner space of an endotracheal tube and the endotracheal tube is inserted into the trachea while visually observing the body cavity of a patient by means of the endoscope. According to this method, the pharynx, the larynx, the trachea, and the like can be visually checked, and hence the endotracheal tube can be inserted safely, surely, and rapidly into the trachea.
In the endoscope device of the prior art, a so-called endoscope which is to be inserted into the human body and used for observing the body cavity, and a light source which emits illumination light for illuminating the body cavity are separately configured, and connected to each other through a light conductor cable so that the body cavity is illuminated, thereby enabling an image of the body cavity to be observed. The light source can operate when it is connected to an external power source.
On the other hand, in an endoscope, is illumination light transmitting optical fiber bundle and an image transmitting optical fiber bundle are passed through a slender resin tube. Such an endoscope is used for optically observing the body cavity of a living body while inserting the resin tube into the body cavity through the oral cavity or the nasal cavity. In the endoscope of the prior art, a pedestal made of a metal or the like is attached to the distal end of the resin tube, holes through which the distal ends of the illumination light transmitting optical fiber bundle and the image transmitting optical fiber bundle are passed are formed in the pedestal, and the distal ends of the fiber bundles are attached to the holes and fixed by adhesion or another method. As a structure for bending the resin tube, a structure is usually employed in which the distal end of a wire rope configured by metal thin wires is fixed to the pedestal by soldering or the like, the wire rope is pulled out to the outside through the resin tube, and the resin tube is bent by producing or relaxing tension in the wire rope.
In the thus configured endoscope device of the prior art, the endoscope, the light source, and the power source which are separately configured must be independently prepared. When such an endoscope device is to be used in a confused situation such as an accident or disaster location, therefore, these components cannot be easily prepared. In such a location, furthermore, it is difficult to ensure a power source.
When the endoscope is connected to the light source through the light conductor cable, various problems are produced. Namely, the light source cannot be placed at a position where the endoscope can use the light source, because of the restriction imposed by the light conductor cable; the fiber may hinder medical aid work so as to make it difficult to do; the light conductor cable may be erroneously pulled during medical aid work, with the result that the light source falls; or, if the light conductor cable is accidentally pulled when the endoscope is inserted into the human body, the patient may be damaged.
In such a confused location, furthermore, it is difficult to find a safe place where the endoscope can be placed after its use, and the endoscope is often placed on the ground. In this case, there is a fear that the endoscope is stamped and becomes broken under a situation where persons move around for medical aid. Particularly, the insertion unit of the endoscope is brittle. When the insertion unit is stamped once, therefore, it is inevitably broken. When the insertion unit is broken, the whole of the endoscope including the operation unit must be replaced with a normal one, with the result that the damage is further increased.
When many persons are injured, there may occur a case where an endoscope which has been used for an injured person must be used as it is for another injured person. In this case, there arises a problem in that, if an injured person carries any germ, other injured persons may be infected. In order to prevent infection, the endoscope must be sterilized. However, sterilization of an endoscope of the prior art requires much effort and a long time, thereby producing another problem in that such an endoscope cannot cope with an emergency.
In the thus configured endoscope of the prior art, a number of holes must be formed in the pedestal made of a metal or the like by machining or another method, and then the distal ends of the fiber bundles must be inserted into the holes and then fixed. This produces a problem in that the working and assembling steps require a long time and the resulting endoscope is expensive. Since a number of holes are formed in the pedestal of a small diameter, the thickness between holes is small. This causes a fear that the pedestal may be broken.
When the pedestal is omitted in order to simplify the structure, the fiber bundles cannot be firmly fixed, thereby causing another problem in that the performance of the endoscope cannot be sufficiently ensured. Particularly, such a structure has a disadvantage that the wire may meander and fail to satisfactorily conduct the bending operation. When a wire guide is formed in the resin tube in order to prevent the wire from meandering, the structure is complicated and the endoscope becomes expensive.